Rabanne started his career in fashion by creating jewellery for Givenchy, Dior and Balenciaga. He started his own fashion house in 1966. He used such unconventional materials as metal, paper and plastic for his outlandish and flamboyant designs.

Paco Rabanne is known for his costume designs for such films as Barbarella. Also Françoise Hardy was a big fan of Rabanne's designs.

Rabanne also has an interest in paranormal phenomena, and became infamous for his false prediction of the Russian space station Mir falling to Paris in 1999.

Rabanne was a trained architect turned fashion designer. His architectural background led him to use disks cut from metal or plastic, linked with wire and other interesting techniques when he created his fashions.

Before opening his own fashion house in 1966 he created buttons and jewellery for Givenchy, Dior and Balenciaga. In his hi-tech period, he produced tiny metal, vinyl and plastic link dresses. These fashion experiments were important in pushing the boundaries of acceptable clothing to wear on the street.

Rabanne created his clothing by laying a woman on a table and shaping the metal parts directly on her body. This prompted Coco Chanel to remark that he was not so much a couturier but a metalworker.

In 1966 Rabanne created his version of the moon-girl look in Perspex and metal and also plastic and acrylic. Rabanne will be remembered for his 1969 gold metal sculptured dress. His work inspired outfits for the film Barbarella and his chain-mail outfits were featured in the film Who are you, Polly Magoo?

At the official site there's a very informative timeline, if anyone's interested

__________________ And I am nothing of a builder, but here I dreamt I was an architect And I built this balustrade to keep you home, to keep you safe from the outside world

The bodice of this tunic is made from triangular and circular leather panels linked by metal studs. The skirt is of oblong panels with two front pockets. The back fastens with oversized jewellery clasps, covered with a diagonal strip of leather.

Paco Rabanne was the son of Balenciaga's head seamstress. After studying architecture, he designed jewellery and accessories for Paris couturiers such as Balenciaga and Dior. In 1966 he opened his own fashion house in Paris where he sold dresses made out of new or unusual materials like perspex discs and metal links. In 1968, Rabanne also designed Jane Fonda's wardrobe for the film Barbarella.

Paco Rabanne led the field of radical experimentation in elite fashion design. Using techniques borrowed from jewellery, he created sculptural dresses in unconventional materials, which inspired inferior copies in London. Baroness Helen Bachofen von Echt wore this dress to a party in New York where she danced with Frank Sinatra.